Around an hour after Brooks returned from her scouting mission, the artillery bombardment began. Ninety-millimeter high-explosive shells fell on the Imperial lines for seventy minutes softening them up for the coming attack.

Two hours into the attack there hasn't been a significant breakthrough of the Imperial lines despite their offensive driving the Imps back. General Everheart, annoyed at the lack of a breakthrough, ordered one of her divisions to attack the Imperials' right flank to assist the division that is already engaged.

A convoy of armored vehicles are rolling up a small dirt path. Leading the convoy from his tank is Lieutenant Bret Jackson. From inside his tank, he lovingly looked at a picture before putting it in his pocket.

"So, what do you think our odds are this time?"

"Pretty damn good. We'll make it to the end of this war, just watch."

"Well, when we win this war drinks are on me."

"We'll hold you to that," Jackson said. He turned out of the turret and looked around. They're moving across a fairly heavily forested area; he can see the mountains where Fouzen is located and the North Sea. He looked behind them and smiled at the sight of the convoy. They're kicking up one hell of a dust cloud, but it won't matter.

The sound of battle is now loud enough to be heard over the sound of the convoy. He can hear the thundering of heavy cannons and can see smoke plums rising into the sky. He pulled out his map and double-checked their position. "Alright, we're here. The last report stated the front line is along this ridge. We haven't taken the ridge, but neither have the Imperials." He folded the map back up and put it into his pocket.

"Lieutenant, one of our vehicles reported a flight of six Imperial airplanes flying over the North Sea."

He looked out across the North Sea and searched for the planes. He found them but he only had eyes on them for a few seconds before he lost sight. "They're heading for the front. Chase! Let's pick up the pace!"

"On it sir!"

Jackson turned in and grabbed the radio and contacted the Company Commander. "Sir, we can confirm the Imperials are using airpower to assist their encircled troops. Over."

"Copy Lieutenant. I'll send it up the chain. Out." He turned out again. "Shit! They're heading for us! Everyone guns up! Enemy aircraft inbound! Gunner, don't rotate the turret!"

"Copy sir!"

He watched as the aircraft headed back over the North Sea. They got close but not close enough. "Everyone stand down. They're not heading for us. Chase, get us to the front double time!"

"Sir!" He brought the tank up to its top speed and the vehicles behind them duly followed.

Seventeen minutes later, the half-tracks pulled out of the convoy and stopped allowing the infantry to dismount. They will precede the rest of the way on the foot. They moved in front of the convoy to cover the tanks as they advanced. They crested the next hill and saw their forces fighting. "Lieutenant, we've reached the line. Looks like no progress has been made. Over."

"Copy that sergeant. All vehicles break formation, we're entering the fight."

His tank rolled up to the next ridge and was immediately hit. Thankfully, the shell bounced. "Light tank. Eleven o'clock."

"Firing!"

The cannon spoke and the light tank erupted in a fireball. The coax opened up on the Imperials occupying the other ridge. His squad moved up and took cover around the tank. "What's the situation corporal!?"

"Two squads of Imperials occupying the ridge ma'am! We haven't been able to drive them off it!"

"That's why we're here corporal!"

The cannon fired again blasting a hole into the earth. There is basically no cover on either ridge save for the holes which have been blasted into the ground and most of those are on the reverse slops of the hills, so they don't provide good cover. Squad fifteen makes do by using their tanks for cover or lying prone.

"Blake! Put that lance to use!"

"Got it!" He stood to a crouch, aimed, and fired. The lance flew over the ridge. "Damn it Blake!"

"I'm trying to hit them with it! It's a bit difficult to do when they're shooting at you!" He loaded another lance and aimed. This time the lance slammed into the top of the ridge and he saw two bodies fly upwards. "That's more like it!"

"Good shot Blake! Don't waste any more of your lances though! We might need them!"

"We have two Fireflies with us! They will destroy the enemy vehicles long before I can!" With that, he fired his final lance and put it on his back. He drew his sidearm and fired off a few shots before going prone.

"Damn it Blake," Brooks shouted. She fired two shots and killed an Imp with a headshot. Behind her, Hawkins peaked out only for a bullet to hit his helmet knocking it off and sending him stumbling backward. He fell and rubbed his forehead. "Hawkins! Hawkins you alright!?"

"Y-yeah! I'm good!" He looked around and grabbed his helmet. He rubbed the mark the bullet had left. "I'm keeping you," he muttered and put it back on.

Inside his tank, Jackson grabbed his radio. "Sergeant Vellers, we're advancing. Wait for my tank to start moving. Out. Sergeant Brooks, the tanks are moving forward. Follow behind us. Out."

"The tanks are moving! Get ready to move!" A second after that, the tanks started rolling. They rolled down the reverse slope and started climbing the other slope.

"Let's move! Storm the Imperial positions!" The Gallians stormed past the tanks. "Grenades! Get grenades on their positions!" Shock troopers tossed grenades on top of the ridge. When they exploded, they rushed forward.

Justin reached the top of the ridge and fired from the hip. More shock troopers reached the top and rushed forward. They took cover where they could, but most went to crouched or prone positions in the open. Justin dived into a shell hole with two other shock troopers. The one on his left is shot and falls to the bottom of the hole. He slid down to check him. He felt for a pulse but didn't find one. He grabbed his dog tags and rejoined the fight.

Behind them, their tanks crested the hill and fired. Their HE shells blew the Imps away. The rest of their squad followed up with the tanks and pressed forward. The Imperials started to retreat from the ridge. The squad pushed forward and soon they've driven the Imps off the ridge. They moved to peruse, but the Imperials had hastily built a defensive line behind the ridge. The MGs halted their advance and they hunkered down.

"Hey Blake! Now would be a good fucking time to use that lance of yours! Oh wait, you used all of your damn lances!"

"I know I fucked up! You don't have to point out my fuck up!"

"Lieutenant! We need the tanks up here ASAP!"

"Give me cover!" A lancer stood up and fired. It fell short slamming into the ground in front of the Imperial positions. "Short!"

"Roger! Cover me!" He fired again. This time the lance slammed into a small fighting position killing everyone in it. "Good hit!" The lancer stood to fire again but a bullet tore through his head, killing him instantly. "Fuck! Blake! Grab that ammo!"

"On it!" He quickly crawled to the dead lancer. He grabbed his ammo and his dog tags. "Targets!?"

"MG team on the far right! Trench line!"

"Got it! Cover me!" He aimed for the MG team and fired. His aim is true and the MG team is killed. "Good hit!"

"Keep your heads down!" Bullets whizzed and cracked over their heads. "Blake! Reposition!"

"On it!" He crawled away as bullets flew over his head. "Fuck!" There is a sharp burning pain in his right hand. A bullet had hit his hand. "Damn that hurts," he hissed. As much as it hurt, he couldn't waste his Ragnaid on such a minor injury. He kept moving and when he reached his new position, their tanks were engaging. Their HE shells made short work of the hastily built trenches and fighting positions.

"Ah hell! Imp armor!" Two Imp mediums and a heavy started firing. Vellers's tank is hit and backs off. Jackson's tank backs off as well. "We need to reposition. Vellers, follow me." Their tanks backed off the ridge and moved to flank the Imperial armor. When they reached a position that gave them a clear shot, they found the Imps hidden by a cloud of white smoke. "They're using smoke to cover their retreat. Hold your positions. Wait till the smoke clears."

The smoke cloud started to move backward. After a few minutes, the cloud started to clear. Once it did, the three Imp tanks were revealed. They're reversing to cover their infantry as they retreat. "Target the heavy tank."

"On the way!" With a bright flash, the gun fired sending an armor-piercing shell toward the target. The shell hit the hull-mounted cannon on the heavy tank. Vellers's tank fired but his shell fell a little short. The heavy tank rotated slightly and fired both its cannons. Its hull-mounted fell short while the turret-mounted went high. The mediums fired with one hitting Jackson's tank. It hit the gun mantlet so all it did was shake the crew a little.

Jackson's tank fired again. This time, the shell hit the flat frontal armor. Through the sight, the gunner can see smoke wafting from the hole in the armor. It stopped moving but its cannons can still fire. Vellers's tank fired and destroyed one of the medium tanks. The other medium fired hitting his tank. The armor, mostly, stopped the shell, but small metal fragments got through. "Ah! Bitch!"

"You good!?"

"No! I just got hit with a bunch of metal fragments!"

"Ah you'll be fine! Back us up!" Vellers's tank backed off behind the ridge. Jackson's tank fired before backing off. By the time they repositioned, the Imperials had successfully fallen back. Jackson unbuttoned and through his binoculars, he can see the Imperials loading up in their armored vehicles and moving out. "Squad Fifteen mount up! We need to keep the pressure on!"

"Alright you heard the man! Get back to the half-tracks!" The squad rushed back to the half-tracks, quickly mounted up, and moved out.

"Why don't the Imps just surrender? It'd make it easier for us and them."

"That right there is why they won't surrender. They know they're tying up vital manpower and supplies that are desperately needed on the front. They won't surrender until we push them to sea, and even then, they might not."

"You think they'll try to evacuate by the sea?"

"They might. The navy can't do much if they do so."

Brooks looked at everyone in the half-track. "I suggest you get rest where you can. We're in for a long battle."

One hour later, their convoy came upon Imperial defensive positions that are reinforced with MGs and AT guns. "Dismount people!" They dismounted and tried to find cover but that's difficult as they're fighting on open plains. So, like before, they laid prone or took cover behind their armored vehicles.

"We need to flank their defensive positions! York, Hawkins, Justin, Blake with me!" Brooks led her small fireteam around the Imperial's right flank. An Imp fireteam is defending their flank and engages them. The fireteam dove to the ground as rounds cracked over their heads. "Blake! How many lances do you have!?"

"Only one Brooks!"

"Damn! Alright, York! Let's hit them with rifle grenades!" They attached the grenade to their rifles and fired. A few seconds later, two explosions are heard over the gunfire and the gunfire slackened a little.

Justin is laying down fire trying to keep the Imps suppressed while Hawkins used his rifle for accurate fire. He squeezed the trigger three times and dropped one of the Imps. He fired two more times before he had to reload. Small amounts of dirt is kicked up as bullets land around him. Behind them, Brooks and York crawled up the small incline and started firing.

Brooks squeezed off two rounds killing an Imp scout. "They're reinforcing!"

"Lieutenant Jackson! Imperials have reinforced their right flank! I need reinforcements if we're going to break through!"

"Copy that sergeant. I'm sending five more your way along with a half-track. Out."

"Reinforcements are inbound! Just hold this position!"

"We'll hold the line ma'am!"

Despite their advantage in numbers, the Imperials didn't attack; they stayed in their defensive positions allowing the reinforcements Brooks had requested to arrive.

"Heard you needed reinforcements ma'am!"

"That I did! We breakthrough here we can hit the Imp's main position in the flank! Have the M1PC stay back and provide covering fire!"

"Got it!" He sprinted back to the half-track and relayed her orders. The gunner kept the Imperials pinned with unrelenting fire. With support from an armored vehicle, the Gallians slowly pushed forward, closer to the Imp positions. Justin crawled up to a small mound of dirt that barely qualified as cover. He looked at the other shock troopers, and with hand singles, ordered them to throw grenades. A few seconds later, three explosions are heard over the constant roar of gunfire.

The shock troopers stood and fired. They rushed the trench and engaged the Imps in CQC. The rest of their squad isn't far behind and they leap into the trench.

Brooks jumped in and turned left. She killed an Imp and saw more of her squadmates jumping into the trench. "Clear this trench! Shock troops lead the way!" The trench didn't have any connecting networks and soon, they had cleared it. Quickly, they started hitting the main Imp defensive line in the flank. Now, the rest of the squad attacked the Imperials from the front with the tanks leading the way. On the other ridge, another fireteam stormed the Imperial positions took them. With their flanks overrun and the rest of Squad Fifteen attacking from the front, the Imperials surrendered.